My mom smiled at me. “Beside it being wrong nothing good ever comes from it.”

That made sense to me even as a five year old.

I’ve always listened to my body. If I want to do something and nothing goes off in my brain I know I am good to go.

Working hard…great!

Hitting home runs…better!

Holding my wife’s hand…the best.

As a child I was playing with a neighborhood kid. His name was Scott. We called him Scotty Waddy Doodle. I have no idea why. We were kids.

At Scotty Waddy Doodle’s house one day his mother told him to come in. It was time for dinner. We’d been playing with Scotty’s toys and he had one toy I really liked. When he cleaned up and went in the house he took all his toys with him except the one I really liked.

“See you tomorrow Jay,” Scotty said and went into the house.

“See you tomorrow Doodle,” I said as he closed the door. I stared at the door for a second and then at the toy on the ground. I was only in 2nd grade but my mind started rationalizing my thoughts. Maybe he left it there for me to take. Obviously he doesn’t care about it. He just left it outside. My little mind kept working until it was satisfied. I picked it up, put in my pocket, and walked home.

Now, I knew what I had just done was wrong. Hence all the mental turmoil. Just like the rest of us (except for psychopaths) I knew I was doing something wrong. But I did it anyway.

Later on that night I was playing with the toy at my house. My mom looked at me.

“Where did you get that toy Jason?”

“From Scotty’s, mommy.”

“Did he give it to you?”

“No but he doesn’t care,” I started out.

“What do you mean?”

“He left it outside…besides he has lots of toys.”

“Did you ask him if you could borrow it?”

“No.”

“So you took it without permission?”

It was then that I knew I was caught.

Not wrong.

Caught.

I knew I was wrong when I took it.

I looked at my Mom as I started to cry. I don’t know who was more upset. I’d never done anything like this in my life and the look on my Mom’s face was one of shock. I was a rule follower. An easy child. Where did she go wrong? Did she raise a kleptomaniac?

“Stop crying and tell me the truth. Lying only makes things worse.”

I admitted I took it. She marched me down to Scotty Waddy Doodle’s house and watched as I proceeded to knock on the door and cry an apology to Doodle’s mother.

My mother apologized as well and I then cried all the way home.

“What were you thinking when you stole that toy Jason?” my mom asked me.

“I just wanted it.”

“That’s not how life works. You don’t take from others. We never lie, we never cheat, we never steal.”

Now I knew all of these things already and this was the one and only time I’d ever stolen anything. I knew it was wrong. I knew I shouldn’t do it. I even felt bad doing it…but did it anyway. Fortunately there were immediate consequences and I learned a valuable lesson. Nothing positive can ever grow from lying, cheating, or stealing.